HEALTH
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maintains clinical pathology and public health laboratory services. The Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth Hospitals maintain blood banks, and the Hong Kong Red Cross Society operates a blood-collecting service for voluntary blood donation; lab- oratory work for these blood banks is carried out by the Institute of Pathology.
Outpatient Clinics
To meet the increasing demand for treatment by modern western medicine, the outpatient services, provided mainly by the government, and also by subsidised or- ganisations and private agencies, are developing steadily. The government now main- tains 49 clinics for general outpatients, with specialist facilities available in the major centres of the urban areas; similar specialist facilities are provided in the New Terri- tories by visiting teams from Hong Kong and Kowloon. Mobile dispensaries and floating clinics take medical services to the more remote areas of the New Territories, while other inaccessible villages are visited by the flying doctor service.
In accordance with the Medical Clinics Ordinance, all clinics are required to be re-registered annually. On December 31, 1972, there were 75 registered static clinics. and three registered mobile clinics under the control of registered medical practitioners, and 350 clinics registered with exemption, making a total of 428. The Low Cost Medical Care Scheme under which static clinics are set up in resettlement and housing estates continued to operate during the year, and in allocating these premises, regis- tered doctors are given priority.
Medical Fees
At government general outpatient clinics there is a nominal charge of $1 a visit, including medicine and such things as X-rays and laboratory tests. Consultation at a specialist clinic also costs $1. There are no charges for patients at tuberculosis, social hygiene, and leprosy clinics or for patients suffering from quarantinable diseases. Similarly, no charges are made at certain remote institutions located in outlying areas or on the floating clinics. The infant welfare and ante-natal and post-natal clinics are also free.
For patients admitted in the general ward of government hospitals, the daily maintenance and treatment fee ranges from $2 to $6 according to the diet supplied. A limited number of private rooms and small semi-private wards are provided at major hospitals. The charges for these are much higher than those for general-class wards and, in addition, all treatment is chargeable.
Where a patient is unable to pay the medical fees, provision has been made for the charges to be either waived or reduced at the discretion of the Director of Medical and Health Services.
Dental Services
The Government Dental Service undertakes complete dental care for all monthly- paid government officers and their families, and offers a limited treatment programme for inpatients of government hospitals, prisoners and inmates of training centres. The service also provides emergency treatment for the general public at certain clinics.
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